TOW TEST
86 |September 2019 go!Drive& Camp
120 km/h in the eighth gear
and 1 500 rpm with a 1,1 tonne
road caravan on the towbar,
the X5 uses about half of its Nm
reserve, as the meter hovers in
the middle. The kW graph hardly
reaches its quarter mark (about
50 kW).
At this speed, the computer
shows fuel consumption is
10,8 ℓ/100 km – a reasonable
figure for the size of the towing
combination and the speed
you maintain.
It compares well to the
average consumption of
12,2 ℓ/100 km, which is what
we got over the total distance
of 2 900 km.
A third eye on the road signs
With the Head-up Display you
not only see how fast you’re
going on the windscreen; the
computer also “reads” the speed
limit on that specific section of
the road. (It therefore doesn’t
rely solely on a GPS map.)
As soon as you drive past
a traffic sign showing the speed
limit, the computer repeats
it on the windscreen. If you
drive faster than this, the speed
readout flashes in red to get
your attention.
So, if you didn’t notice the
last speed sign, you can rely on
the computer. The tin brain isn’t
all-knowing though: for example,
1 000m
1 500m
1 957m
500 m
0 m
0
Elevation
273 km 546 km 819 km 1 092km 1 365km 1 638km 1 911 km
TOWINGPROFILE Johannesburg Ermelo
CathkinPeak
Johannesburg
Pretoria
Harrismith
Distance 2 863 km | Average speed 56,8 km/h (highways, back roads, built-up areas and dirt and sand roads) | Driving time 2 days 3 hours 54 minutes.
SPEED READER The X5’s head-up display will usually show your velocity in white
numbers, but if you exceed the speed limit the numbers flash in red so you know
you’re in the wrong. The ECU uses a forward-facing camera to cleverly read the
roadside signs and promptly informs you what the maximum allowed speed is.